Stalked
Paul Lowinger
IÕm not sure what stalking is but it may be happening to me but I found
a definition in Webster which seemed to fit: to pursue stealthily from
behind cover and to watch. Another meaning was more worisome: to follow
warily for purpose of killing, as game.
.My situation began subliminally as the surreal displaced the commonplace.
My daughter and her husband with three year old grandaughter and baby
grandson visited my condo on the beach while I was on an Elderhostel
trip to Antartica. They stayed only a day leaving because my futon bed
was too hard; it really is like sleeping on the floor because thatÕs
what seems best for my back.
A plastic bag was on the hall table after I got back
but I remained clueless like a cartoon character stepping into a manhole
even when I saw it held a wad of doll clothes. Only later did I inventory
the ten pink, blue and white ribboned jackets, blouses, skirts, pantaloons,
dresses and purses and a note in a womenÕs handwriting that said, ÒTwo
dresses fit the seven and one half inch doll rather then the standard
eleven inch Barbie doll. Mattel announced recently plans to alter BarbieÕs
figure. Will current clothes fit the new Barbie? DonÕt know - advise
buy available old standard doll now and keep it until your grandaughter
is old enough to use this toy.Ó It was signed XO, kisses and hugs as
translated by a friend conversant in the language of love.
I should explain that I live on the second floor of a fifty unit condo
building whose halls can be entered only by residents with a number
code that opens the front door.
A day later when I entered my condo with my son, there was a refrigerator
magnetin the middle of the front door with a photo of a bearded goat
out of whose head grew a horn. No smooth horn it was crenulated looking
like a small Chrysler Building. My son seemed dismissive of the phallic
joke but after all at 74, I am an old goat. I put it with the Barbie
clothes, still mostly heedless of the fabric of events.
Life was as busy as late December gets before Christmas and I needed
an hour in the basement gym of my building where I use the exercycle,
treadmill and weight equipment. ItÕs stress reduction and aerobic exersize
for cardiovascular health. I left my apartment at three and returned
at four to find a nine inch pink and white knitted gingerbread man in
an envelope on the doormat. No note this time but the address was ÒPaulÓ
and it arrived during the hour that I was absent. The event had my attention.
Who could time the delivery so precisely? Only someone whe could see
or hear my comings and goings.
Like the Jon Benet Ramsey case there were some creepy crawleys under
the rock. Last September there was a complaint about noise in my unit
from Martha Lee who lives below me. (I've changed most of the names.)
I learned about this in a phone call from the condo management company
and I was angry. Of course, this was an overreaction. Actually I am
quiet except once at one am when an overloaded closet rod crashed .
Well there may have been a time or two when I pounded a jar on the tiles
of the kitchen floor to open it. And of course there was a noisy day
when the carpet layers walked about on the concrete floor taking up
the old carpet before putting down my new one.
I could delay no longer so I read the California law on stalking which
described harassment but also requires a threat to do harm. It wasnÕt
time to call the police but I was ready to talk to people.
My daughter was also a supporter of direct action. ÒJust talk to Martha
Lee. Knock on her door.Ó
By this time it was Christmas Eve and I finished the last of my shopping.
When I got home about six, I found a childÕs bicycle in its store wrappings
in front of my door. The note read, ÒPaul, there is a liability release-copy
to you next week. The little girl may be able to ride the bike when
sheÕs 8-10 years old. If you donÕt wish to keep the bike that long,
you may give it away to whomever you choose. Have a nice holiday. Martha
Lee.Ó
Finally, I went to the condo management office where I talked to Laura
in the late afternoon befor New Year's Eve. We went to a conference
room in athe basement where she invited her assistant and the handyman
for the company to listen. They asked some questions and registered
amazement appropriate to an announcdement thjat a UFO had landed..
Finally, I looked up my stalkerÕs phone number in the directory and
I found her name and phone number, a kind of Rosetta Stone. I was stimulated
by my daughter who was back for a visit with her husband and two children.
I said, Ò I believe you left a bicycle and some other things outside
my apartment.Ó I paused as though their would be a noisy denial.
A low moaning voice without tonal variety. ÒI didnÕt know if you got
it. I won it in a contest.Ó
ÒI can bring the things down tonight or tomorrow if that would be better.Ó
ÒTomorrow.Ó
Alright, IÕll bring them down between nine and ten in the morning.Ó
In the morning, the bicycle went down to the door of the lower unit
with a bag of knitted goodies and a goatÕs head. There was a note on
the door, ÒPaul, Leave the things. IÕll get them later.Ó
Sunday at noon my door bell rang and I looked throught the peephole
and saw nothing. I wondered briefly and then opened the door anyway
wary from watching televison programs showing home invasions by criminal
dwarfs.
The bicycle was back with the woolies and now a mysterious form releasing
a supermarket who gave away the bicycle from liabililty signed Martha
Lee.
Like a beached whale, I mourned my lost anonymity even as I savored
the love and danger of a mysterious princess But my need to be in control
of events was the strongest emotion. I had trouble being passive in
a storm so I acted. I called Laura and told her the offerings were outside
my condo and she should take them away, She did and I got a playback
of the conversation with Martha Lee, "I was only trying to make
nice, you can give the bicycle to the janitor if you want. Everyone
likes the knits. People on the bus ask if I'll make them some."
Two weeks later and no more gifts. IÕm a private person again. IÕve
told the story at lease twelve times fo people if you count updates.
IÕve still never seen Martha Lee. It's time to join Surviving Stalking,
a new organization I learned about through the web.
© Paul Lowinger 2003